Introduction

ODAdata is a user friendly donor reporting tool that provides a country-level overview of all official development assistance (ODA) activities. It was designed to strengthen donor coordination, harmonization, and alignment with country strategies, and increase the transparency of ODA information. ODAdata has been part of Development Gateway's aid effectiveness portfolio since August 2008.

Key Benefits

Development Gateway's approach to system implementations recognizes that technology solutions alone are not sufficient to bring about lasting change. They should be adopted as part of a larger effort that brings partners together, puts sustainable management processes in place, and ensures long-term technical maintenance. Development Gateway provides a range of services both on the policy and technical sides to support the adoption of an ODAdata system, including user training, production of analytical outputs, technical support, and advisory services on international standards and best practices.

Through the ODAdata tool itself, users can:

• View pre-defined reports by donor, sector, and more
• Create custom reports and filter activities by key characteristics
• Locate activities geographically via an interactive map of the country
• View key details for a specific project
• Learn more about donor financing to the country through outputs such as the EU Blue Book, which includes graphs and donor profiles

ODAdata Implementations

ODAdata has been widely used by the donor community in Mozambique (ODAmoz) since 2006. It was originally created with funding from the European Commission, and has also been supported by the United Nations and the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands in Mozambique.

In Nicaragua, European Union member states have used ODAnic to present their activities online since early 2008. The system was commissioned by the DFID representation in Nicaragua, which is now supporting ODAnic's expansion to cover the activities of the entire local donor community, along with the creation of the 2008 EU Blue Book.

Donors are responsible for maintaining the information in ODAdata. Each donor agency in a country selects a focal point to adhere to locally-agreed guidelines and timelines for updates, while following international data classifications developed by the OECD Development Assistance Committee. This information is then freely available to all.